Tax time at Kerby Centre

It is tax time at Kerby Centre: each year our Tax Volunteers help seniors aged 55+ or AISH recipients prepare their taxes.

We do this for seniors who have a low annual income. Last year our volunteers completed 3838 tax returns for seniors. Part of the reason our team feels this is such a valuable service is that to be eligible for CPP, OAS or other government programs you must be current on your tax filings.

Imagine if you are on a restricted budget how much your life becomes disrupted if your CPP is cut off? That’s why Kerby Centre is so committed to ensuring low income older adults have assistance at tax time.

Given that we are a registered charity we also think of tax time as the ideal time to remind people of the tax benefits of donating to a registered charity. You can receive a 15 per cent tax credit on your first $200 donated and a 29 per cent tax credit on amounts donated above $200. Exceeding the $200 threshold means you get a larger tax credit.

The $200 threshold is over the entire tax year, so if $200 is a large gift for a donor we sometimes suggest signing up in a monthly donor’s program. Making a $20 donation every month may be easier to budget for but by the end of the tax year, you will have exceeded the threshold.

Different provinces offer different credits, but if you donated $200 in Alberta. You would receive your $30 federal tax credit. But you would also receive a $20 provincial tax credit because Alberta offers a 10 per cent tax credit on the first $200 donated. So for that $200 donation, you would receive a $50 tax credit.

Now, I’m not a financial advisor – so please contact your own – nonetheless, there are several ways you can combine your tax or estate planning goals with your goals of supporting your favourite charity.

For example, when markets have been performing well, donating stocks, bonds or other securities is a tax-smart way to support the work of Kerby Centre. Donating securities directly to a charity eliminates the payment of capital gains tax. By making such a gift, you will receive the benefit of a donation receipt for the fair market value of the stock and subsequently not pay the tax on any capital gain.

Regardless! Good luck with your tax return — and if you know a senior who could use a little help with their taxes, you can find the information to sign up on our website at www.kerbycentre.com/information-resources